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Originally Posted by Mardelin  The % rate on yorkies does come from Dr Tobias's research program....I know there have been countless #s that have been made of available. However, I don't know if Dr Center's #s figure into the equation.......
Either way it's a nasty disease in any breed....but, there are others and yes it's a crap shoot. Even testing your dogs prior to breeding is no guarantee as there is no DNA marker.....you can prove our dog is clear, but not prove that it is not carrier. |
Yes, it is a nasty disease and, if you look at the data, the numbers have gone up since the beginning of the study. It could be due to the prolific use of an affected stud or other reasons. It is odd that the way the numbers have gone up kind of mirrors the wider use of vaccines and topical flea and heartworm products. It makes me wonder if dogs aren't simply becoming more toxic due to this and that toy breeds, being smaller, are more susceptible.
With no clear genetic marker and shunt dogs being bred to each other and producing clear babies and shunt free dogs producing shunt babies, it's enough to worry anyone.
One of the more aggressive programs to identify and remove from breeding high risk dogs was with the Irish Wolfhound. They were able to reduce the incidence by 50%, if my memory is correct. There is obviously a genetic component to liver shunt, but it may be that other factors are involved, too.